An Impossible Christmas
by Lady Rhetorica
Summary: Christmas plans for Mim Possible and her companion, Jonathan Stoppable, take a dangerous and unexpected turn. A little holiday vignette about Kim's Middleton ancestor with important consequences affecting Kim's future. Joyeux Noel!
1. Part One

**AN IMPOSSIBLE CHRISTMAS**

**Part One**

It was Christmas Eve, 1940, and their last night in Marseille, France, held a couple of surprises for the famous reporter and world-traveler, Mim Possible. The first surprise was that Jonathan Stoppable presented her with a Christmas gift of a gold ring and asked her to marry him, and the second surprise was that she said "yes."

"After all," he said, "I'm an old-fashioned sort."

The remark prompted a smirk from Mim. Jonathan was shocked the first time she told him marriage was an obsolete relic invented by men. Yet he endured twenty years as her manager, nursemaid, confidant, and comforter—he was her only real friend, and still in love with her. In the past year or so, she noticed a subtle change in him—he joked less and seemed more concerned than ever before about the world's affairs. It was his idea to go to Marseille and use her reputation as a cover to help Jewish refugees escape Vichy France. She grew jealous of the constant stream of those who needed Jonathan's help to obtain false travel permits and fake passports, or his guidance in secret routes over the mountains into Spain. She wanted him for herself.

They were worn out. Their funds dwindled until they were broke—time to go home. While she packed their worn suitcases, Jonathan secured tickets to board a freighter bound for Algiers before the next morning light. From there, they'd head for Portugal, then sail to New York.

She heard Jonathan sing in the front room, "If Santa passes by my stocking, I promise not to mind a lot, the only thing I want for Christmas, is just to keep the things that I've got. A pair of loving arms around me, a garden of forget-me-nots…" She felt a warm kiss on the back of her neck. She turned and held him tightly. He picked her up and danced across the floor, whistling, "The only thing I want…" She wiped away a tear.

"Hey, what's this about?" said Jonathan. "Look, I've got our boarding passes on the S.S. Persian Star. Bernard destroyed anything suspicious left in your office. I'm finally engaged to the most wonderful and beautiful woman in the whole world, and we're going home! For a Jewish guy from Middleton, this is the best Christmas ever." He kissed her again.

There was a tap on the door—her heart skipped. Three figures stood in the hall shadows.


	2. Part Two

**AN IMPOSSIBLE CHRISTMAS**

**Part Two**

"Bonsoir. Joyeux Noel, Mademoiselle Possible, and congratulations," said Bernard. "Jonathan…"

Jonathan guessed the intentions of the two strangers. "You know we'd like to help them, Bernard, but we can't," said Jonathan. "All we have left are the clothes in our suitcases, and besides, we leave France in just a few more hours."

"Oui, monsieur. C'est impossible," said Bernard.

Scarves covered the faces of the two strangers. They shivered beneath their threadbare coats. "It's all right, Bernard. Please, come in," said Mim.

"Jonathan and Mademoiselle, may I present Dr. and Mrs. Tesar."

They removed their coats and wrappings. "I don't believe it," said Jonathan.

"As I told you," said Bernard, "c'est impossible."

Mim could only stare. The couple looked like Mim and Jonathan in their mid-twenties, except the man had a goatee in addition to the thick mustache, and the woman was seven or eight months pregnant.

"Please, sit down," said Mim. She made some hot tea for the younger woman and poured the last of their holiday wine in a glass for their other guest.

"Merci," said the man. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss Possible. My name is Josef, and this is my wife, Marie." He reached for his wife's hand. "I was a professor of philology at the university in Prague. After Hitler took Czechoslovakia, we decided to go to America." He described their journey hidden in car trunks, farm wagons, and trains packed with Italian soldiers. "We tried to make our way to Paris and got as far as the village of Le Chambon when the Germans invaded. But then news came that the Vichy government was ordered to transport alien Jews to Germany. We heard rumors of you and Mr. Stoppable, and Marie and I decided we could not endanger our kind host, not while there was still a chance we could escape to America. He took us to a hotel in Marseille, and, well, here we are. It appears we are too late. C'est impossible, no?" He squeezed Marie's hand and smiled.

They sat in silence.

"No, it isn't," said Mim. "Jonathan, take the professor to the bathroom with your razor. And Marie, your hair …"

Half an hour later, their coats and scarves exchanged, Mim asked Bernard how the pictures on their passports compared to the fake Mim and Jonathan. The lines in their faces and premature gray hair reinforced the illusion. "Oui, the resemblance is remarkable."

"Bernard can take you to the dock," said Jonathan, "and Mim and I, well, we'll find the consulate and tell him we lost our papers."

When it was time to leave, Bernard glanced through the window. "Merde," he said.

"What's wrong?" said Jonathan.

"There, across the street, the two men in long black coats and hats—it is the Gestapo." Bernard gently removed Marie's coat and scarf from Mim and put them on himself. "Je vous demande pardon, mademoiselle. How is it you Americans say? Merry Christmas. After all, in the dark, are not all French women beautiful?"

"Right," said Jonathan. "Bernard and I will leave through the front entry and lead them away from the docks. Mim, you…"

"…take Josef and Marie to the ship," said Mim. And please be careful, my love, she thought.

Josef shook Bernard's and Jonathan's hands. "Good luck," they said to each other.

Marie kissed their cheeks. "Merci, God bless you."

"It is nothing," said Bernard. "Jonathan, shall we leave?"

Mim peaked through the window and saw the Gestapo men point and walk swiftly down the street. "Let's go," she said.

She led them down a staircase to a back alley behind the café below the apartment. In the distance, she heard someone yell "Halt" and then two pistol shots. She wanted to cry out, but whispered, "this way." They darted through a maze of alleys, tunnels and darkened streets, until she saw the deck of the Persian Star through the early morning fog.

Mim handed Josef and Marie her passports and boarding passes. "Do you have any money, once you land in Algiers?" she said.

"Only a few francs," said Josef.

Mim pulled off her gold ring and pressed it into Marie's hand. "Take this. It may help." She hugged them and said, "Now go, quickly. I must look for my husband." She disappeared into the fog.

Josef and Marie never saw her again. Their son, named Jonathan, was born a few weeks later in Lisbon. They eventually arrived in New York and adopted the surname, Stoppable, in memory of their benefactor. Decades later, Jonathan visited his grandson, Ronald, in Middleton. He thought the boy looked just like his father, Josef.

After the war, a beautiful American woman and her companion moved into a small cottage near Le Chambon. Some older residents remarked how much the Americans reminded them of a young Jewish couple, but of course, they couldn't be the same people. "C'est impossible."


	3. Author Comments

**AN IMPOSSIBLE CHRISTMAS**

**Author Comments**

Nota Bene: All Kim Possible characters are the property of Disney, Inc.

My dear readers,

As with the characters in the story, my own life events took an unexpected twist, preventing me from participating in the wonderful community of Kim Possible fanfiction writers, readers, and reviewers for the past year. I haven't forgotten you.

"An Impossible Christmas," takes place about 75-80 years before my Kim Possible Christmas story written last December, "A Light Carol." As with my other stories, I draw upon a number of various sources and inspirations.

1) I started reading through anthologies of Christmas stories from around the world such as _The World's Christmas_ and _Pearl Buck's Book of Christmas_. The heart-rending pathos in little gems like Dostoyevsky's "The Little Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree" and an ancient legend, "The Emperor's Vision," make all the more vapid the ridiculous run of holiday movies showing on cable.

2) The setting for "An Impossible Christmas" is based on historical events and people, though I took creative liberties for the sake of the story. If you are interested in the real stories behind the story, check out books like _The Courage to Care: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust_ and _The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust_.

3) I ran across Eddie Cantor's charming 1939 Christmas radio hit, "The Only Thing I Want For Christmas" quite by accident while doing some research for "An Impossible Christmas." You can find it on the Internet if you look hard enough. It's worth finding. Here are the lyrics:

_If Santa passes by my stocking, / I promise not to mind a lot. / The only thing I want for Christmas / Is just to keep the things that I've got._

_A pair of loving arms around me, / A garden of forget-me-not. / The only thing I want for Christmas / Is just to keep the things that I've got. _

_A friend or two, / A peaceful sky of blue. / A place to hang my hat / When work of day is through._

_If Santa passes by my chimney, / I'll still be happy like as not. / The only thing I want for Christmas / Is just to keep the things that I've got. _

4) There are numerous allusions to the original Christmas story, the best one of them all.

5) Special thanks to a favorite aunt who offered some useful revision advice, a variation of Strunk & White's "omit needless words."

Wishing you all a blessed holiday season,

The Lady Rhetorica


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